Note 956 — Chapter VII · RISE OF ECCLESIASTICAL MARRIAGE: THE CHURCH ACCEPTS THE LAY CONTRACT AND CEREMONIAL

Tertullian, loc. cit.; idem, On the Veiling of Virgins, xi: Ante-Nicene Fathers, III, 71; IV, 34. On the ring see Dict. Christ. Antiq., I, 248, 249, 202; II, 1105, 1807, 1808; for the kiss see ibid., II, 905, 906. By the Theodosian Code, lib. v, tit. 3, leg. 16, one-half of the bridegroom's gifts, after his death, were delivered to his betrothed in case the betrothal were sealed by a kiss; otherwise all was given to his relatives: ibid., II, 1110. In England, and elsewhere, the kiss was a characteristic of public spousals; and when these were recognized by the church the kiss was sanctified by the priest: Jeaffreson, Brides and Bridals, I, 65-67; Brand, Pop. Antiq., II, 139-41. Cf. also Méril, Des formes et des usages, 37, 38; Spirgatis, Verlobung und Vermählung, 16, 17. The veil was originally used at the betrothal, from the time of which ceremony onward in early days it was worn habitually by the betrothed as well as by the married woman: Meyrick, in Dict. Christ. Antiq., II, 1108, 1109.